New research published in The Journal of Pain reports success in reducing discomfort in adults with mild to moderate chronic pain by engaging them in simple, evidence-based, positive activities that can be easily administered online. This is the first study to assess the long-term impact of this mode of intervention in people with mild to moderate pain.

Examples of the positive activities that were imparted to the study participants included identifying three good things that went well each day and dwelling on them, focusing intensely on positive experiences two to three times a day, and practicing how to respond positively to good news shared by others. Researchers compared the impact on reported pain among participants who were randomly assigned to complete zero, two, or six positive activities over six weeks. Follow-up assessments were collected at the end of six weeks and at one, three and six months after intervention. Read a news story about the study here.